FOWLER — Travis Thelen came home from the hospital Monday. He tires easily, and recovery could take "a very, very long time" and lots of physical therapy, said his mom, Marti Thelen. But the 10-year-old, whose left leg is still paralyzed from his bout with West Nile Virus (WNV), remains in pretty good spirits.

The Fowler boy was diagnosed with WNV by physicians at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing on Sept. 6. Eighty percent of people infected with the mosquito-borne illness show no symptoms. Travis is one of a small percentage of patients who develop not only serious symptoms, but paralysis rather than meningitis. He complained about pain in his leg muscle from above his knee to mid-thigh, and as the disease advanced his left leg became paralyzed.

Last week, after Travis had been sent home, he began to lose strength in his left arm, and his left hand curled so that he couldn't straighten it. He was re-hospitalized and given intravenous immunoglobulin treatments, which stopped the disease's progression.

"The hand is not as strong as it was, but it seems to be recovering," Thelen said. The pain in Travis' leg has ceased some, and he can make a slight movement with his thigh muscle. "But so far, no strength has returned to his leg."

Travis and his mom met with his school counselor this week. They'll be working out a schedule from Travis to return to school – starting slowly, an hour or two at a time.

"(The doctors) said his body has to recover from this," Thelen said. "He's fatigued, so we have to be careful how often and for what length of time he goes to school. On physical therapy days, they said he might not be able to do school at all. Technically I'll be home-schooling him."

Travis started a journal, so he can track his progress. In the future, he will be able to read back to see just how far he has come.

Through it all, Travis has held on to his positive attitude.

"He has a big smile he wears all the time," Thelen said. "He gets worried, but it doesn't last long."

In addition to the support of his family, Travis has had the companionship of his cousin Nathaniel Hanses, and his buddy and classmate, Ben Hamilton. Ben spent the night in the hospital with Travis last weekend, and they watched the MSU/Notre Dame football game on television together.

Travis has also made new friends. Some of the MSU basketball team paid him a visit in the hospital, playing with Travis and his brothers and sisters in the lounge like they were all one big family.

"We're huge Michigan State fans, especially basketball. We were going to feel on top of the world with one player. We ended up with five of them," Thelen said. "They were awesome. Travis Trice went home and tweeted, 'When you're feeling better, we're going to come to your house to play basketball.'"

Page 2 of 2 - The Fowler High School football team came over with a signed football for Travis. They scrimmaged a little in the backyard, and Travis rolled in a touchdown.

A family in Fowler gave the Thelens four tickets to the MSU game Saturday, which, through a friend of a friend, have been upgraded to premium seating.

"They are putting Travis' name on the JumboTron, and Tom Izzo is going to stop and say hello, if he has time," Thelen said. "Michigan State has been phenomenal to us."

As have so many in the community.

"We would like to thank everybody for the countless thoughtful gestures and food and cards – for everything – but above and beyond are the prayers everywhere," Thelen said, adding that word of Travis' condition has spread far and wide, and people in at least eight different states have their churches praying for Travis.

"We thank them with all our hearts, and hope they keep on praying. We have a long road ahead us," she said.

The support of friends, neighbors and strangers has brought "a lot of light to what can be a gloomy situation," Thelen said. "We have hope."

Travis has been very strong, and although he gets frustrated, he handles it very well, his mom said.

"We have a lot to learn from Travis," she said. "He definitely deserves the high-fives he gets."

If you would like to send Travis a get-well card, mail it to Travis Thelen, 10588 W. Coloney Road, Fowler, MI 48835.